Credit fundraising: November marks turning point as fund launches spike
November was always set to be an important month as the world awaited the US election outcome and the results of covid-19 vaccine trials. This did nothing to slow down fund managers as 14 funds launched, up from only four funds launching in September and five in October

Highbridge closes convertible dislocation fund with over $2 billion to deploy
Highbridge Capital Management has held a final closing of its convertible dislocation fund

Certior targets smaller distressed funds as it launches fund of funds
Certior Special Opportunities Fund is targeting distressed debt, opportunistic strategies, special situations, non-performing loans and asset-backed securities 

LP round up: Monroe and Angelo Gordon beat 25 for direct lending mandate, as private credit plans brew
US public pension funds have disclosed $1.2 billion in commitments to credit focused strategies

Direct lender Scio names three-person advisory board
Scio Capital, a London-based direct lender, has named three people to its newly-founded advisory board

ICG collects €4.2 billion for senior debt strategy, plans real estate debt fund launch
Intermediate Capital Group collected a further €1 billion for its latest senior debt strategy over the past six-month reporting period, taking the total amount for ICG Senior Debt Partners IV and separate mandates up to €4.2 billion

Arrow's NPL fund hits €1.7 billion final close in 2020's 'largest' first-time private market European fundraise
In a tougher year for fundraising than normal, most market participants agree managers raising first-time funds could struggle. But that has not stopped Arrow Global from closing an inaugural European non-performing loan strategy at €1.7 billion

Schroders creates multi-asset private credit fund for DB pensions
Schroder Adveq MPCF will invest in a range of private credit assets, including corporate direct lending, real estate debt and infrastructure debt

Manager shrinks in distressed and explores US direct lending sale: Debtwire
A global asset manager has a fresh set of priorities for its global credit platform with distressed debt and US direct lending moving down the pecking order

Värde closes $1.6 billion dislocation fund
Värde Dislocation Fund, has a flexible, global mandate to invest in mispriced, stressed and distressed credit, focusing on short- to medium-term credit opportunities

LP round up: $2.8 billion flows to credit as Apollo concedes fundraising may slow
Florida Retirement System Trust Fund made the largest commitments allocating $1.6 billion. Apollo meanwhile acknowledged a potential slowdown in fundraising as investors await results on an independent review into CEO Leon Black's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein

Placement agents warn direct lenders on outsized positions
Private debt investors say they are witnessing dispersion between fund returns, and that diversification and a well resourced team are some of the most important differentiators they are seeing

Fund performance: Structured finance finds its footing with credit rally
For the first time this year we have seen a structured finance fund take the top spot, as Serone Key Opportunities Fund leads a multitude of other funds in this category in the top 10 of our monthly fund rankings

Ucits at a glance: European funds and CLOs head rankings
Ucits fund returns

Credit funds at a glance (November 2020)
A round-up of fundraising and people moves

Credit hedge funds (November 2020)
Monthly credit hedge fund tables

GSO co-founder Bennett launches minority GP-stake business
GSO Capital Partners co-founder Bennett Goodman (the “G” in GSO) has teamed with Mike Arpey, Avshalom Kalichstein and Rex Chung to launch a new GP stakes investing business

Credit fundraising: Dubai manager gets in on the act as direct lending takes off
Shuaa launches credit fund in the Gulf as Ares, Contingency, HPS and Perceptive are among those to close billion-plus funds

Apollo appoints head of credit valuations from sell-side
Apollo has appointed a head of credit valuations, as its previous head of credit valuations has transitioned internally to cover private equity valuations

Pemberton hires from Alcentra in bid to boost North American investor base
Pemberton has appointed a former Alcentra official to the newly created role as managing director for North American business development, as it seeks to expand its US and Canadian investor base

European CLOs should obtain STS certification, urges ACC
The Alternative Credit Council has urged policymakers to allow European CLOs to obtain Simple, Transparent and Standardised (STS) certification in a bid to boost non-bank lending

BMO caters to Europeans with new US mid market loan fund
BMO Financial Group has launched a US mid-market credit fund for European institutional investors

Stepstone subsidiary raises $35 million private markets fund for high net worth individuals
Conversus has closed an inaugural private markets fund, Conversus StepStone Private Markets, at $35 million

Ares holds €6.97 billion first close on European direct lending fund
Ares Management Group has collected $12 billion in gross credit commitments over the third quarter of the year, according to the firm’s earnings presentation, including $8.2 billion for the first closing of its fifth European direct lending fund

Direct lending green shoots flourish despite fundraising plunge
Despite the headline figures, sources say European direct lending fundraising remains healthy and newcomers have a place to enter